Independence or in dependence?

A post-Colonial introspection at how we grow our food, what we eat, what we consider ‘education’, ‘medication’, and ‘patriotism’

By Suryamithra Vishwa

On 4 February 1948, the British formally ended their Colonial occupation of this country and granted us ‘independence’. But from then to now, have we had the assertiveness to reclaim our lost identity as a nation, translated into everyday living values, skills and way of thinking that make us who we are? 

Last week this writer had to meet a few Lankan academics regarding some event and prior to the meeting, they mistakenly identified me with a western university, and when I categorically stated that I was educated fully in Sri Lanka and affiliated only with Sri Lankan universities, there was a pall of disappointed silence. During the discussion, what I could observe was the rote use of theories, a disconnectedness with the practical use of knowledge and the absolute absence of seeing knowledge as a route to create wellbeing in society. Instead palpably apparent was blind pride and a hero worshipping of western theories without even understanding the rationale behind them.

Shortly after in separate conversation with a few committed Lankans who have contributed greatly to this country, such as Daya Dissanayake, award-winning bilingual Lankan novelist, poet and blogger, Engineer Dr. Chandana Jayawardena, who has extensively studied Lankan indigenous construction and irrigation methods, and Lankan chef Publis Silva, who has for 60 years strived to revive our indigenous diet, what pre-occupied us in our discussion was how far we have traversed away from ourselves in our national policies (or lack of it) for the past decades.

Speaking of the craze for ‘foreign’ qualifications, the hilariousness of Sri Lankans with our hydraulic civilisation going to the US to study irrigation was raised. In a detailed discussion with Daya Dissanayake on the topics of education and identity, he very proudly revealed that he never went to university – possibly the reason behind his unsullied and razor sharp intellect. Instead he identified a long list of libraries as ‘his universities’ and engaging in a detailed discussion on several themes, it was apparent that few foreign qualified ‘professors’ will be able to match him in his ability to dissect an issue and analyse it from various perspectives based on a vast accumulation of research-based knowledge pursued for the love of it, and not for a title. 

In the brief discussion with chef Publis, who has written many books trying to revive our ancient cuisine that assures a healthy life, he mourned how our entire nation has become akin to one large hospital.

With only a few days to celebrate our independence day, let us ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions and ascertain what we can conclude from the answers.

1. How did we relate to Mother Earth before the Portuguese, Dutch and British invaded this country?
2. Did our Lankan ancestors have today’s attitude of grabbing, abusing and raping the Earth for human survival and expecting the Earth to reciprocate in bountiful gentleness?
3. Did our ancestors, who used to have a deep reverence for all creatures of this earth, think of any creature that makes up the overall ecosystem and is central to the process of food production from ancient times as ‘pests’ that have to be killed? Did we see other plant species of the earth – such as weeds – as entities that have to also be killed ruthlessly by poison that ruins the earth, the water and us or did we have other indigenous eco-system based methods to deal with it?
4. From where did these unwholesome ideologies pertaining to how we deal with Mother Nature, come from and why are we so mindlessly dependent on these?
5. Do we have a right to talk about our culture – sanskruthiya – when our entire education system, our very survival, is totally divorced from our ancestral ‘agri-culture’ which formed the basis of our identity as a nation and which is an integral component of both the Sinhalese and Tamil psyche of this country.
6. Do we have a right to talk of ‘our culture’ and ‘independence’ when we have aped the West in everything we do and think, and uphold on pedestals western ‘qualifications’ and western ‘experts’ (a very ambiguous term), when we have to date living proof of what one segment of these so-called ‘experts’ had done pertaining to reforesting – and ‘advised’ our policymakers over 40 years ago to grow pine trees (when our local ecologists, like Dr. Ranil Senanayake, vehemently protested)? Today we see the absolute ruination of the Lankan soil in many parts of Sri Lanka as a result of this ‘foreign expertise’.
7. Do we have a right to talk about ‘our culture’ when we have an imperialist-imposed education system that we are still blindly attached to, without adequately recognising that it is one thrust on us by those who wanted a population of enslaved minds that does nothing for the creation of solutions we need as a nation, based on our resources, our heritage and our betterment?
8. Do we have a right to talk of ‘patriotism’ when every minute of the day, we are mindlessly ruining the country beyond redemption by reaching out for a plastic bag that will add to the thousands of bags we have bought in the backdrop of there being neither a national policy on recycling, nor waste management?
9. Why have we not collectively contributed to supporting our youth who have the talent to innovate technology and combine it with our ancient knowledge to find alternatives to non-biodegradable wrappings, tubes, bottles, etc., and many other societal and national needs? It is common knowledge as to how a Sri Lankan who creates something useful for the nation has to struggle acutely (often to the point of giving up or leaving the country), to get the recognition they deserve. These innovations end up in a foreign country, as happened to the hand tractor developed by a Sri Lankan. 
10. We see our people helpless in the face of lifestyle diseases they bring upon themselves – and are victims of sicknesses such as diabetes, obesity, and cancer – but have we even given half a thought as a nation to revive, promote and give due national recognition to our ancient hela wedakama (Sinhala wedakama), which is a distinct medicinal branch pertaining to the Sinhalese race, passed on from generation to generation from the times of ancient kings who had the hela medicinal physicians in their palaces?
11. Are we not today fully part of a blood money food industry where we blatantly use poisons (both before and after cultivation) and still have the audacity to sing the praise of ‘our culture’ without having a clue of what that means?
12. How many of the thousands of food outlets in this country are focused on promoting health at reasonable prices, reflecting our authentic food heritage, and using the produce of this soil, grown non-harmfully? 
13. Do our universities teaching entrepreneurship focus on traditional/indigenous food entrepreneurship and is our entrepreneurship in general taught by those who actually have created a business or is that, too, limited to ‘paper qualification experts’?
14. What can we understand from the above answers? Are we independent or totally and absolutely in dependence to everything that is alien and separate to us as a nation? What do we do about this, to bring about change? Each of us as Sri Lankans is the future of our country. We change our country. We promote the respect of our country. We stand by our country. We revive the identity of our country. Our actions reflect who we are to our country. 

(Suryamithra Vishwa is a Sri Lankan who strives to transcend beyond inherited birth identity. She is the founder of the thought movement ‘Earth Life Water Knowledge Trails Lanka’, and has a keen interest in comparative spirituality and indigenous knowledge. Her academic training has been in sociology, and she is a curriculum writer and visiting lecturer in Mass Communication at a national university in Sri Lanka under her inherited family name. Her library of 20,000 books, of which a large number is on global literature, science, comparative religions, and secular spirituality, has been opened up for the public free of charge. Those interested in borrowing any book could contact 0812494285.)